Personal productivityOriginal Reddit post
Looking for a Mac Markdown editor similar to Typora, but fully Mac native.
I really like Typora, but would prefer something completely Mac native and not an Electron app. Needs to support Typora's live preview as you type. Willing to buy, not willing to rent, so no subscriptions. Has to be a standalone edtor, so things like Bear and Obsidian are out.
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Nodes
That's another note taking app. The released their Markdown renderer as open source. I'm hoping someone turns it into a full editor.
Have you tried Panda? It’s the editor that’s behind Bear, but this app is only for opening single files. I also have another suggestion — but it’s very expensive… I don’t know your financials, but it could be worth it if you use it a lot and want to splurge on something very nice. Paper is a super polished editor, that’s pretty customisable and can swap between different viewing modes. Also available via Setapp.
I've been trying to find a link to Panda. I thought the Bear developers abandoned it. Thank you. As for Paper… $30/month or $100/year? Seriously? Bad enough that it's a subscription. But this is an outrageously priced subscription.
Search erictli/scratch on github. I like that! Kudos to the author.
Scratch is note taking app, and not a markdown editor.
Nodes is what you want. You can use it in editor mode if you don't want the full featured notes interface.
Inkwell is probably the closest thing to it, but maybe better if you check it out for yourself https://inkwell.4worlds.dev Or check out the direct comparison https://inkwell.4worlds.dev/vs/typora Anyways its all in there. I am getting a Mac dev account soon (i dont have a mac either but i build the artifact with Github and test a bit when i can borrow a Mac), but for what its worth out of Inkwell's current 3.5k dls roughly 600-700 are Macs. Edit: i read your post too fast, but the live preview is split so its not the same, it is rendered immediately but if split screen is a no-go then it might not suit you.
Well good news for you is that there have been a constant stream of markdown apps being vib… errr developed…(second to dictation apps 😂)… just search the subreddit and github. IMO MarkEdit is the current gold standard, and what I use. (https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit)
Markedit doesn't have live/inline preview.
I’m not aware of Typora, but I use MacDown 3000 and recommended it to friends and colleagues.
MarkEdit https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit
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iA Writer
Scratch. Search in GitHub
That's a note-taking app and not a markdown editor. Looks cool though.
Try Panda by bear, and Cogito
I have been looking for the alternative to typora in the past few months. Still no one can work as good as typora. My main complaint is the file size limit.
This thread has taught me that there is no completely MacOS native equivalent to Typora.
https://github.com/SeanPedersen/Marko - WYSIWYG markdown editor like Obsidian
Since I've been accused of being rude, I will try to be more polite. Thank you for recommendation. Howver this is not an electron app. It is a cross platform app using the cross-platform framework Tauri. Still worth checking out.
The main thing you want is Typora-style live preview. A lot of Mac Markdown apps are either split-pane editors or closer to note apps. I'd probably try these first: MacDown 3000 - this seems closest to the old MacDown kind of standalone editor. MarkEdit - lightweight and very Mac-like, though not really the same as Typora. iA Writer - polished and native, but it feels more like a writing app than a plain Markdown editor. I would skip Bear, Obsidian, and Apple Notes for this. They are good apps, but they push you toward managing a library instead of just opening and editing Markdown files. And just want to share some of my relatively recent experience with markdown - I'm a Software Engineer and working with markdown a lot these days (like designs, plans e.t.c all in markdown). And I have to say I'm so used to raw markdown that I find it uncomfortable reading from previews, so I personally stopped using preview mode or other preview apps almost completely. But few things that may still trigger a preview for me - embedded graphics (like merimade, for example) or markdown tables - those are hard to read in raw form.
I got in on a TestFlight for a really cool one called Lettera by Shiny Frog https://lettera.md. Not sure if they are still accepting beta testers but I like it a lot so far!
Same — got tired of doing markdown in VS Code . I landed on iA Writer (native, one-time, no subscription) and use it daily, but honestly I'm not fully sold — it styles the markdown rather than hiding it like Typora, so it never quite gives that clean inline-render feel. Feels like the usual native compromise. Kind of following this thread hoping someone names something better.
Octarine